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U.S. Should Get Ready For Reform, Democrats Say

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By LIBBY QUAID, The Associated Press

Published: February 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidates said the United States should be ready to respond to gradual reforms in Cuba after the resignation of communist leader Fidel Castro.
Republican candidates took a harder line, saying there is little indication so far that Castro's departure would spark the sea change needed before the United States eases decades-long trade and tourism restrictions against Cuba.

And Florida's legislative leaders expressed hope for the future of Cuba, saying Castro's resignation is a step toward democracy.

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican who was born in Cuba, said: "Today I am cautiously optimistic for the people of Cuba, and another step is closing on a long, dark chapter in Cuban history. I look forward to the day that Cubans will be able to freely elect their own leaders. Unfortunately, today's news does not facilitate that yet. We must remember that Fidel Castro has resigned from a position he was never elected to in the first place."

U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, a Republican member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, "The United States and all freedom loving people around the globe should embrace Castro's resignation as an opportunity to move Cuba towards democracy, and to ensure that the Cuban people are no longer subjected to further oppression at the hands of a corrupt and rotting authoritarian regime."

Joe Garcia, chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party and a candidate for Congress, favors allowing Cuban-Americans to visit family in Cuba as a first step to opening up relations.

Removing the embargo should happen a little at a time, he said. Breaking it suddenly would be "too big of a bite at once."

Current policy sets specific benchmarks that Cuba must meet, but Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States should think about responding if Cuba's new regime indicates even a willingness to change.

Castro's brother Raul, who is likely to assume control Sunday, has raised expectations for modest reforms since he took over as acting president last year.

Obama went furthest. "If the Cuban leadership begins opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change, the United States must be prepared to begin taking steps to normalize relations and to ease the embargo of the last five decades," he said in a statement.

Obama has criticized a policy of continuing to isolate Cuba, while other candidates have said they would insist on significant reforms to take place, said Tomas Bilbao, executive director of the nonprofit Washington-based Cuba Study Group.

On Tuesday, Clinton struck the same tone as Obama about Castro's resignation.

"Certainly, the people of the U.S. would need a new government to talk about what needs to happen if that new government takes some action that demonstrates they are willing to change," Clinton said at a dinner Tuesday in Parma, Ohio. "So we're hoping to see some evidence of that. It is a very stark reminder that even if you've been in power for 50 years, you cannot hold onto power forever."

Republicans, on the other hand, insisted that significant benchmarks be met before there is any response from the United States.

Republican John McCain called it "a great opportunity for Cuba to make a transition to a democracy, to empty their political prisons, to invite human rights organizations into the country and begin the transition to a free and open society."

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